WATERMELON CUCUMBER SALAD WITH FETA CHEESE

I think this salad first came to my attention around 4 to 5 years ago.  I had traveled with my husband on a business trip to Massachusetts.  He was going there pretty regularly for business and had his favorite spots to eat.  I really wish I knew the name of the place but it was basically a hole in the wall watering spot for locals.  You know the best places to eat are this way.  Scott would go there for their burger specials but one day while he was at work I decided to drop by for some lunch.  While sitting at the bar eating whatever I had ordered a guy ordered this salad.  I had looked at it on the menu but to be honest it all sounded rather weird for me too stomach.  However, the guy loved it and since then I have been wanting to make it.  Have no clue why I waited 4 years to make it because while it might sound like a really strange combination it really works. 

As I said I did not taste it so I have no clue exactly what type of dressing it had on it but I chose to work with olive oil and key lime juice.  A lot of the recipes out on the internet have olive oil mixed with some type of vinegar.  I have seen red wine, white balsamic, and even champagne vinegar used but I thought the key lime juice would work with the watermelon.  I specifically decided on key lime juice because of them being more aromatic and it also has a bit of a floral flavor.  

I started with the dressing.  I wanted it to be able to sit for a little bit before adding it to the other ingredients.  It is very simple with only 2 ingredients, olive oil, and key lime juice.

Next, I sliced my cucumber.  I was not sure how I wanted to slice them so I first started to cube them but then chose to slice thin half moons.  

Next came the red onion.  I diced it pretty small but not fine.

Add both into a bowl.

Cube your watermelon.  Remember you want them bite size. 

Add everything together.  You should be able to see the dressing on top.  Toss everything together.  

Now, this is the thing about the feta, you do not want to add it right away because you want this salad to chill in the fridge overnight.  I think the best way is to add the feta when you serve this salad.  That way it does not melt or turn to mush.  So, when you plate some to serve, add some feta or maybe have it out for each person to add how much they would like.  

WATERMELON CUCUMBER SALAD WITH FETA

Ingredients

• 3 cups watermelon cubed to bite size
• 1 English cucumber, seeds removed and sliced thin
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons key lime juice
• 1/4 to 1/3 crumbled feta cheese

Directions

• Make the dressing a couple of hours ahead of time by adding the EVOO with the key lime juice.  I just let mine sit on the counter.  
• Cube or even make watermelon into balls.
• Dice onion.
• Cut ends off of the English cucumber and stripe with a vegetable peeler.  Remove seeds and slice thin.
• Add everything except feta into a bowl and toss to blend well.
• Place into the fridge overnight.
• When serving crumble feta cheese into salad or individual bowls.

I made this and had my friend Lisa over and she loved it.  It is such a nice salad to have in the summer time or hot weather.  

I chose not to add salt or pepper but if you wished you could per your taste.  This salad is not meant to have a lot of liquid so you might want to let your watermelon dry a bit on a cooling rack. 

Happy Hump Day!!!

ENJOY!